A Girl's Guide to Vampires: The Dark Ones, Book 1

Joy Randall's Top-five tips for vampire hunters: Location, location, location. Vampires won't be caught dead (ha!) in places like discos, 10-minute lube shops, or Switzerland. Remember, if you wouldn't be there, neither would a bloodsucker. Trust your eyes. You know the handsome, annoyingly arrogant, self-assured man in the shadows with long hair and a cleft in his chin? He's your vampire. No matter how tempting it might be, do not "accidentally" acquire a paper cut on your finger and suggest your vampire kiss it to make it better....

Magically Delicious: Magic and Mayhem, Book 4

What does a hungry, pregnant witch do when her whole freaking town goes on a no-carb diet? I'll tell you what. She goes on the sly and conjures up some anchovy-chocolate chunk cookies dipped in hot sauce - that's what. Of course my cheating gets complicated when all of the magic in the world goes on the fritz. To solve that particular wrinkle, I'll have to finally find the source of the lurking evil.

Dragon Fall

For Aoife Dakar, seeing is believing - and she's seen some extraordinary things. It's too bad no one else believes that she witnessed a supernatural murder at an outdoor fair. Returning to the scene for proof, Aoife encounters a wise-cracking demon dog - and a gloriously naked man who can shift into a dragon and kiss like a god. Now thrust into a fantastical world that's both exhilarating and terrifying, Aoife is about to learn just how hot a dragon's fire burns.

Where the Wild Things Bite

Delivering a rare book to a valued customer is definitely part of mild-mannered archivist Anna Whitfield's job description. You know what isn't? Protecting her precious cargo from midflight theft by the very pilot who is flying her to Half-Moon Hollow...while trying to appear as unappetizing as possible to the only other passenger, a vampire. Undead bookstore owner Jane Jameson could be waiting a very long time for her book. Possibly forever.

You Slay Me: Aisling Grey, Guardian, Book 1

You Slay Me is a lusty romance novel with amusing supernatural undercurrents. When courier Aisling Grey is dispatched to Paris to deliver a priceless dragon statue to a rich and eccentric female collector, she finds the intended recipient the apparent victim of a demonic ritual. And that's just the beginning of Aisling's discoveries.

The Old Witcheroo: Witchless in Seattle Series, Book 4

When last we met, dear friends, a man had come calling, claiming to be Crispin Alistair Winterbottom, my dead British ex-spy. A notion I'd find ludicrous, if the handsome imposter didn't, in fact, look exactly like my dead British ex-spy. But there's no time for that mystery when a quiet walk on our private stretch of beach turns up something far more pressing - another tragedy in my beloved small Washington town. That's right. I, Stevie Cartwright, ex-witch turned amateur sleuth, have stumbled upon another murder. But this time it's closer to home, more personal.

A Witch in Time: Magic and Mayhem, Book 3

One of these things is not like the others - life-threatening community theatre, wire hangers, chipmunks, tree-house sex-capades with a hot werewolf and head-shrinking with a porno-loving rabbit shifter. Actually none of these things are even remotely like the others, but it's my life and I'm going to make the pieces fit into a perfect puzzle - even if I have to shove it together and glue it with magic.

The Werewolf's Christmas Wish: A Nocturne Falls Short

Welcome to Nocturne Falls, the town where Halloween is celebrated 365 days a year. The tourists think it's all a show: the vampires, the werewolves, the witches, the occasional gargoyle flying through the sky. But the supernaturals populating the town know better.

Welcome to Nocturne Falls - the town that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year. Jayne Frost is a lot of things. Winter elf, Jack Frost's daughter, Santa Claus' niece, heir to the Winter Throne, and now...private investigator. Sort of. When she buys a sealed box at an estate sale and cat-related circumstances cause that box to be opened, life in Nocturne Falls starts to go haywire. Jayne has no choice but to figure out what she unleashed and how to recapture it.

In "Shades of Gray" by Katie MacAlister, Noelle is a Guardian: a demon-wrangler, imp-banisher, and all-round secret protector of humans from the Otherworld. In "Undead Sublet" by Molly Harper, executive chef Tess Maitland is banned from her five-star kitchen in Chicago to recover from "exhaustion". Jessica Sims's "Out With a Fang" features Ruby Sommers, a lonely were-jaguar who signs up for a blind date through the paranormal dating agency Midnight Liaisons.

Into the Fire: A Night Prince Novel

For nearly 600 years, Vlad Tepesh cared for nothing, so he had nothing to lose. His brutal reputation ensured that all but the most foolhardy stayed away. Now, falling in love with Leila has put him at the mercy of his passions. And one adversary has found a devastating way to use Vlad's new bride against him. A powerful spell links Leila to the necromancer Mircea. If he suffers or dies, so does she.

Love in the Time of Dragons: A Novel of the Light Dragons

In best-selling author Katie MacAlister’s Love in the Time of Dragons, suburban mom Tully Sullivan wakes up in a far-off place surrounded by strangers—many of them muscular, sexy ones—claiming to be dragons. They insist Tully is a dragon, too, and that she’s committed crimes deserving of death. Now Tully must disprove the allegations before time runs out.

Playing with Fire: Silver Dragons, Book 1

Gabriel Tauhou, the leader of the silver dragons, can't take his eyes of May Northcott - not even when May, who has the unique talent of being able to hide in the shadows, has slipped from everyone else's sights. May, however, has little time for Gabriel - not when she's hiding from the Otherworld law, hunting down a blackmailer, and trying to avoid a demon lord's demands.

Switching Hour: Magic and Mayhem Book One

Released from the magic pokey and paroled with limited power is enough to make any witch grumpy. However, if you throw in a recently resurrected cat, a lime-green Kia, and a sexy egotistical werewolf, it's enough to make a gal fly off the edge. Not to mention a mission...with no freaking directions. So here I sit in Asscrack, West Virginia, trying to figure out how to complete my mysterious mission before All Hallows Eve when I'll get turned into a mortal.

The Witch's Halloween Hero: A Nocturne Falls Short

Welcome to Nocturne Falls, the town that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year. The tourists think it's all a show: the vampires, the werewolves, the witches, the occasional gargoyle flying through the sky. But the supernaturals populating the town know better. When a spell goes wrong on the night of Samhain for witch Corette Williams, her only hope is the man she loves, Bartholomew Stanhill. But time is running out.

The Vampire's Valentine Surprise: A Nocturne Falls Short

Welcome to Nocturne Falls, the town that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year. When Delaney Ellingham enters the Nocturne Falls Valentine's Day Bake-Off, she has no idea that an old rival will create such havoc. Her husband, Hugh, and her friends all come to her aid, but even they can't guess the surprise that lies in store.

The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires

Iris Scanlon, Half-Moon Hollow's only daytime vampire concierge, knows more about the undead than she'd like. Running all their daylight errands - from letting in the plumber to picking up some chilled O neg - gives her a look at the not-so-glamorous side of vampire life. Her rules are strict; relationships with vamps are strictly business, not friendship - and certainly not anything else. But then she finds her newest client, Cal, poisoned on his kitchen floor, and only Iris can help.

Big Vamp on Campus

Ophelia Lambert, 400-year-old vampire princess and college freshman, suddenly finds herself domesticated by humans and forced to suffer the indignities of dorm rooms, communal bathrooms, and a roommate with sticky fingers. As one of the hundreds of undead venturing into postsecondary education, Ophelia has a lot more to learn that just "undead studies" - she has to learn to get along with her fellow vampire classmates and, worst of all, her human ones.

Immortal Nights: An Argeneau Novel

Abigail Forsythe's life hasn't been easy lately. Still, if there's one thing guaranteed to take her mind off an empty bank account and abandoned dreams, it's a naked man locked in a plane's cargo hold. A very big, incredibly gorgeous naked man. And when instinct prompts her to free him, Abigail must rely on this stranger for survival - a stranger who leaves her thrumming with need every time they touch.

Drantos

For most, a plane crash means the end of life. For Dusti Dawson, it's just the beginning...Dusti and her sister Batina survived the crash, thanks to a couple of brothers who are equal parts menacing and muscled. She'd be grateful...if they hadn't turned out to be delusional kidnappers, who believe Dusti's grandfather is some monstrous halfbreed creature bent on murder. Turns out Vampires, Lycans, and Gargoyles do exist - and they've been crossbreeding to form two hybrid races.

The Accidental Werewolf: Accidentally Friends, Book 1

When Marty Andrews gets bitten by a mangy mutt while walking her teacup poodle, her blond hair darkens, the hair on her legs starts growing at an alarming rate, and her mood swings put her dream job as a sales rep for Bobbie-Sue Cosmetics in serious jeopardy. Then a drool-worthy man shows up at her door claiming that he accidentally bit Marty. And since he's a werewolf, she is now, too. Thinking Keegan Flaherty is clearly insane, Marty refuses to believe a word until a kidnapping makes her realize there's more at stake than just her highlights.

Fashionably Hotter Than Hell

Welcome to my own personal hell. Name: Heathcliff. Occupation: Vampyre Warrior - one of the deadliest in the world. I plan. I fight. I win. Always. However, it's never taken me this damned long to get what I want before. Only I would be blessed with a Vampyre mate I'd have to chase for two centuries. The chemistry between us is steamy, and the sex is sizzling, but I want more - I want it all. Now, just as I'm finally wearing Raquel down, I find I have competition, not for my mate's hand but for her very existence.

The Shifter Romances the Writer: Nocturne Falls, Book 6

For romance writer Roxy St. James, living in Nocturne Falls also means a fresh start. And as soon as her unbearable ex signs the divorce papers, that new beginning will be a reality. Unfortunately, her ex doesn't seem ready to let her go and the subtle threats he's been making leave her no choice but to confide in her oh-so-handsome neighbor, who just happens to be a deputy with the sheriff's department. But Officer Alex Cruz isn't just the law. He's also a panther shifter, a secret he's sworn to keep.

Jaguin’s Love: The Dragon Lords of Valdier, Book 8

Jaguin is one of the finest trackers on Valdier, where females are few and true mates almost non-existent. He has never been successful at finding his true mate, and that failure is eating away at him and his dragon. Even his symbiot is feeling the strain as the centuries crawl by with no end to the emptiness gnawing away at them. But hope flares with the discovery of a species that is compatible with their own. Jaguin is rewarded for his help in tracking one of the Lord's stubborn females with the promise of a chance to find his own true mate on the planet Earth.

Publisher's Summary

Paen Scott is a Dark One: a vampire without a soul. And his mother is about to lose hers too if Paen can't repay a debt to a demon by finding a relic known as the Jilin God in five days. Half-elf Samantha Cosse may have gotten kicked out of the Order of Diviners, but she's still good at finding things, which is why she just opened her own private investigation agency. Paen is one of Sam's first clients and the only one to set her elf senses tingling, which makes it pretty much impossible to keep their relationship on a professional level. Sam is convinced that she is Paen's Beloved - the woman who can give him back his soul...whether he wants it or not.

First - the narrator makes it sound like the lead character is a old maid who shouldn't be in this story at all. Sorry but I just can't make stories like these work when I think of the lead as a 40+ year-old.

Second - why did the stories leave the Eastern European them? The vampires being Scottish made no sense. Plus, how much additional lore did the author fit into this book that I feel like hasn't come up in past ones. I also liked how previously every story linked slightly together with one or two characters but this book comes from left field and didn't feel like it fit.

Overall, I'm not sure I'll be going on to the next since it seems a risk now.

Would you be willing to try another book from Katie MacAlister? Why or why not?

I'm taking a break from MacAlister for a while. She finds a formula and goes with it, but after a few iterations of the formula it gets a little boring. I also really struggle with her "falling in love in a week" theme in every single book. Sure, they are supernatural beings and completely unrealistic, but even that fast of a romance is unrealistic.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I have heard this lady read other books and I need to remember that she sounds like she is holding her nose. It's not the best.